Steve Aschburner, NBA.com: LeBron James deserves to have one or more of these in his trophy case before the chiseling begins on that mountainside (he should have won it last year, IMO). But the DPOY traditionally has been a big-man’s award — they’ve won 22 of the 31 presented so far — and it probably will be again. Roy Hibbert will benefit from the Pacers’ W-L success, their league-best defense and the credit all involved give to the Indiana center for his rim protection and mastering of the “law of verticality.” Obviously, there’s an apples-oranges issue at play, because these two guys play defense so differently. Hibbert is the Great Dane stationed at the palace gate as much to intimdate as to actually thwart, while James is one of those hounds you always hear about being unleashed to chase down and attack the bad guys.

Fran Blinebury, NBA.com: LeBron James. Taking nothing away from the job Roy Hibbert has done, but if needed, James can guard every position 1-5 on the court.

Jeff Caplan, NBA.com: I’m going Hibbert, by gosh. He is anchoring the league’s No. 1 defense by a wide margin, he is third in blocks (just barely behind Serge Ibaka for second) and he is No. 1 in the all-important opponent field-goal percentage at the rim, a category now cataloged by the SportVU cameras and can be found on NBA.com/Stats.

Scott Howard-Cooper, NBA.com: Hibbert. James would not be a bad pick, but Hibbert is the anchor of the defense that over the last couple seasons, and in 2013-14 in particular, has turned into a title threat because of defense. From opening night on, he has earned the award through about three-quarters of the season. Let’s keep in mind, though, that the actual award will be for all 82 games. There’s still enough time left for a change at the top.

Sekou Smith, NBA.com: I think Serge Ibaka has been the most impressive defender I’ve seen this season, LeBron James plowing through his forearm notwithstanding. Seriously, the Thunder big man has been his usual, shot-blocking nemesis self all season. He’s one of the few guys in the league capable of changing games with his defensive presence alone. Hibbert is an excellent post defender, at times, and no one covers more ground or is more versatile than LeBron. Neither one of them, though, has been as consistently brilliant as Ibaka has been on the defensive end this season.

Lang Whitaker, NBA.com All Ball blog: To be honest, I haven’t decided yet. But I do think LeBron has more value as a defender than Hibbert because of his versatility. And following that same line of thinking, I think the Pacers’ own Paul George might even be a more valuable defender than Hibbert. And for whatever it’s worth, I wouldn’t vote for him for Defensive Player of the Year, but I’ve loved watching Patrick Beverly playing defense this season — he is absolutely fearless and aggressive and just a ton of fun to watch.

Davide Chinellato, NBA Italia: I want to name someone who’s flying a little under the radar but who’s really putting up big numbers: Anthony Davis. The Pelicans big man leads the league in blocks, 3.04 per game, opponents field goal made at rim per game (2.9) and grabs 10.2 rebounds per game. He’s turning into a truly intimidating presence inside. And he continues to improve.

Aldo Miguel Aviñante, NBA Philippines: Roy Hibbert is my pick for the Defensive Player of the Year award. He’s the anchor to the league’s toughest defense. Hibbert has fully grasped the verticality rule and with his heft and height, and he’s made a living inside with his dominating presence, especially on the defensive end of the floor.

92 Comments

So much ignorant Lebron for dpoy talk, ….ps saying hibbert would be useless is laughable….you mean he just steps out of the way while kd goes to the rim… learn something about team defense….this isn’t a one on one game…

DPOY needs to actually go to the best defender. This award is supposed to be based on a single player an their stats and individual play..not how their team plays as a whole..Anthony Davis LEADS the entire league in Blocks..10/rebounds. And a steal here in ther..his defense prensence is already compared to Duncan and Garnett in his 2nd year….Give it to him!!! Hibbert is a defensive team player..along with noah..bad team or not shouldnt matter..put davis on a contender and he will still give u the same stats or better!!!! If you comment make sure you kno wtf you are talking bout before you speak…lebron is no DPOY…

The Defensive Player of the Year award will go to the player who has had the most impact on that side of the court… I’d say Noah or Hibbert are neck and neck at the top of the list… Then, there’s Anthony Davis, Serge Ibaka, and DeAndre Jordan who all clean up the messes for their teammates…

The problem with LeBron’s versatility is that it’s situational ONLY… Sure he can guard some players of every position… But, usually, he just guards the SF… Most of these versatility accolades people are giving him is when he’s guarding PG’s… Like when the Bulls had a healthy D-Rose… But, it’s funny because in quite a few of those games… He was getting torched by Luol Deng…

Anthony Davis. Why? If you’ve watched him play, the defense is just so much better. he flies and contests every short, the unwritten stat, he can switch out and guard guards and SF, he can effective guard big men of the league, and his speed and quickness on Defense helps. Why isn’t he getting more of a mention? And I’m a Bulls fan.

The one thing that always drives me nuts – MVP, Defensive Player of the Year etc. are not awards for the best player or the best defensive player……Read the title!!!!! The award is for the most valuable player (not the best player!) THIS SEASON and for the best defensive player THIS SEASON. LBJ is almost certainly the best player on the planet and when he puts his mind to it (i.e. in the Playoffs) is probably the best defensive player on the planet as well, especially since he can guard almost anyone. But THIS SEASON, he probably doesn’t deserve MVP, and the argument John Schuhmann made when it comes to defense cannot be beaten. He (as the entire Heat squad) is playing at half-speed, aware that they need to stay fresh to have a chance at a 3-peat. Keeping the eyes on the prize is smart and a wise choice, but it doesn’t bring regular season accolades (which are overrated, btw, since championships aren’t won in the regular season).

all players in the court was the same job on defense and also in offense. roy hibbert is a center and he challenge any shot goes to the basket same as serge ibaka does it also. but it seems to be win the one who is deserve and that is leBron james. think about this roy hibbert and serge ibaka can defend only on a half court play, it is an effort for a team. but it seems to be james has a lot of effort on defense, when you’re watching a game lebron’s defense is side to side and from one end to the other end of the court,now who is the one who deserve? can ibaka do that? can roy hibber do that? well i think they can’t. only the one who rush running to chase some ball to block to steal and defend other position and defend the one who is the treat or the player that will be the cause of their fall. now it seems to be leBron does it for all time of his career let’s give him a chance to see what he is fighting for. leBron has not been tired on defense since he enter on the NBA. don’t look on the stats of the player the important is how they work for the task that they had. it’s so far for anthony davis to rise his name over the wall of some other player mentioned. as i said they can’t do what leBron’s can do. imagined james running on the court can ibaka stop him? can hibber chase him? well they cannot. i pick the player that deserve to win this. i pick ” LeBron James “

Is Lebron a good defender`? yes. Does he deserve the award? No. While he can play D, he doesn’t for the most of the game. He sits on the oppponents least effective scorer to rest on D and to be fresh on O. He doesn’t play D for 48 minutes. This award is for players who do – Hibbert, Noah, Deng, Iguodala, Conley etc.

they should consider also the presence of the player in the court. if his defensive presence can scare his opposing team even though stat wise is not that high like others out there. then that player should win dpoy.

If Scottie Pippen couldnt win DPOY then Lebron will not either, they dont care about a guy shutting down a PG-SG-SF-PF or C any time he wishes, they care about the tall lightpole camping under the basket.

LBJ on defence will be shutting down everyone even on switches.
Hibbert on defence will be a mismatch and opponent scoring on the switch. i.e.. KD or other great players, meaning look at a perimeter defence as well. LBJ have the defence look down from end to end. Hibbert is what you call a cherry picking defence and in order for a great DPOY to win this category you must be able to defend every inch and every corner of the hardwood.

LBJ hands down. when you say overall contribution that is guarding any position. roy hibbert or any other player that thinks they are in the mix not this year. LBJ had stopped key player in any positions. only reason that hibbert is in the mix this year is because of the pacers W-L situation. other than that he cannot stop anyone above the baseline

im so sick of people using comparing being the dpoy to “guarding all positions” or getting more blocks. dpoy is about overall contributions to defense, and yes guarding a position obviously contributes to that but its also way more about how you improve youre TEAMS defense. lebron james does not deserve to win dpoy and he is arrogant to think he does. marc gasol definitely deserved it last year and so far, roy hibbert deserves it this year.

Javale has a career average of 2 blocks and that’s with 20 minutes of playing time. he also alters a lot of shots, but he’s A TERRIBLE HELP DEFENDER AND HE IS ALWAYS OUT OF POSITION. he also gets bullied in the post consistently. blocks and steals don’t necessarily make a good defender. Rubio still leads the league in steals??? lol

Hibbard is very specific in his defensive skill set, which is around the rim. Well duhh he’s a centre, but for me versatility is the defining factor in this argument and LBJ’s ability to guard 1 through 5 is big. PS Ibaka is a punk, coz after he couldn’t jump high enough and hit Lebron on the wrist, he clearly kicks his leg out and trips Lebron. Just saying

I hate these awards.
Last year, Joakim Noah got snubbed even with a 20-20-10 (pts,rebounds,blocks) and lost the award to Gasol who had 6 rebounds per game! And now we’re giving it to James??? Really? LBJ is arguably the best player of all time, but he is NOT an elite defender. You NEVER even see him guard a big in the post, so what kind of versatility is that? Lateral quickness on the perimeter is not that great either. Proof of his weak defense is further explained by John Schuhmann (I’m glad we still have smart writers not jumping on bandwagons).

No professionalism AT ALL here with these writers. All of you are either biased or demanded by the NBA that you cram LeBron down our throats and try to brainwash us because the NBA thinks we need a Michael Jordan of every era.

It most definitely isn’t LeBron James the NBA can’t keep trying to give this guy every award that they have. He might win the sixth man of the year award if he had to come off of the bench for 10 games. For me, my DOPY is Roy Hibbert. He is the force behind the league’s best defense and he is a special player. I’ll tell you why; not very many players come around and are such a defensive power that teams create offensive strategies to score, or players drive in the lane without at least looking for this guy. I think it’s safe to say that players know that if you drive in the lane on Roy Hibbert, you will either get your shot blocked, or you will have to earn them at the line. Which is a rarity in the league nowadays (sorry guys this isn’t the 90’s). In this league players can get have a broken nose and miss games (When Hibbert got his nose broken 2 years ago he didn’t miss a game….food for thought). I am not a Pacer Fan, I can go so far to say I am a Pacer hater, but I love giving credit when it is due. Roy Hibbert is this year’s Defensive Player of the Year.

LBJ JUST BLOCKED DUNCAN ANS SPLITTER WHEN IT NEEDED THE MOST. ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT GAME EVER IN A CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES SHUT TFU HATERS! COMMON!!? WAKE UP. YOU ALL HAVE BRAINS DON;T YOU???? STOP TRYING. HIBBERT DEFENDS THE LOW POST. LJ ALMOST EVERYWR

LBJ rarely, rarely guards the 5… Also, Lebron gets punished by bigger power forwards. When the heat goes small and he has to guard the PF, he gets tired and loses a bit on offense. David West dominated him last year when they were matched up against each other. Guarding the post on a big PF is like taking body blows as a boxer… not something the heat want to do often, James could get in foul trouble and get tired too quickly.

If he’s on Melo, Kevin Love, David Lee, or even Blake Griffin… he can easily stay with them and handle their athletic pick and pop games. He can’t handle Cousins, Aldridge, west, or zebo in the post though… so me “may” be able to guard 1-5… he rarely does… this award shouldn’t be for potential…

Um Joakim Noah anyone? The guy repeatedly guarded Jeff Teague last night. How many Centers has the League ever seen with lateral quickness of Noah. Even had a game this season where he was successfully denying Lebron James the ball. He deserved it last season, he deserves it this season and can really guard all 5 positions from the CENTER spot. Anthony Davis also deserves recognition. His team just hasn’t done well.

The heat arent that great defensively and I think that really affects who wins this award. The award almost always goes to the guy playing the best defense for the best defensive team. While im sure lebron could guard anybody in the league, the fact of the matter is the Pacers have been ridiculous defensively this year and I think Hibbert deserves it. Plus Stern’s not in charge anymore so Lebron is gonna get alot less preferential treatment

This is absolutely ridiculous that LeBron James is even being mentioned. This just shows the bias of the writers and that their fanboys. What has happened to professionalism in American. The Miami Heat defense has not been consistently impressive this whole season and that includes James. His direct stats on the defensive end 1.5stls and 0.3blks are both career lows for James. His defensive rebounding is the lowest since his first 3yrs in the league. According to advanced stats hes not doing much better either. His defense rating is an avg 104.5 which is not even top 15 in the league even when only considering the players who play at least 30mins a game. The only thing people say is that he CAN guard all five positions. The key word here is can. He can means its a possibility. He rarely guards positions outside of the small foward a whole game. You can’t give someone credit based solely on potential. He has potential to be an versatile, but he has to use.

I agree 100 %, you were absolutely on point. It’s ridiculous for LBJ to be in this discussion, he has vastly underperformed this season defensively. If he was to win the award, it should’ve been last year. Maybe he can do it in the future. Anyway, it’s repulsive to see these idiot writers idolize what he CAN do on defense. It’s not about what you’re capable of doing, it’s about what you DO. Walk the walk, life ain’t about hypotheticals. All these d-bags do is increase LBJ’s notoriety because of their own stupidity. My god. By the way, LeBron is my favorite player.

No it shouldn’t
Defensive player of the year is not the award for who can do the most. It is for who has the greatest impact on the game on the defensive side. Think about it this way. Does Lebron James cause players to stop driving to the basket because they don’t trust they can get a good shot off, no. Does Lebron James alter the majority of shots that are taken in the paint night in night out no. For a five to ten minute stretch he can eliminate a great player. So could Ron Artest with the Rockets and Lakers.
Mark Gasol won last year because of his ability to anchor a grinding team and cause players to just not drive to the basket. Roy Hibbert and Joakim Noah do that for top tier defensive teams.
Can Lebron do things on defense no one (except maybe Tony Allen) can do for 5-10 minutes, yes. Does he have the most impact of any player defensively night in night out NO

This is really stupid to say James can defend on every position so he is the best defensive player…
1- If Hibbert or Ibaka or Noah cannot defend on Curry in One – one on drive, they can block his shoot! (I think Noah can also defend on the drive…)
2 – If Hibbert or Ibaka or Noah cannot defend on Curry in One – one on drive, Basket is a sport team! So another guy in the same curry’s position will defend on him! This would be another question if a center was not able to defend on a center but James could… But this is not the case! When you have a team you ask guys to do their jobs… Not to do the jobs of another guy
3- To give another example if a guy is able do score close to the basket and far from the basket, in drive or in taking the position it doesn’t mean he is the best scorer! What make a guy better scorer is precisely he scores!

Well said Sancho! In my opinion, one of the ff. deserves ro win the DPOY award.- Lebron.Hibbert,Ibaka.Davis,Noah,Allen,Howard,Jordan,George and Ariza. The wizards are in the playoff run,cause mainly of d two guards [ Wall n Beal ] n T. Ariza’s defense that is so different from the others, his spacing ,studying your every move.,blocking , agility and to catch up with you with his lenght. But my pick fot this year is S. IBAKA, his blocking ability is so intimidating and contesting every shot in front of him,rebound n help defense when lacking.He is giving it all specially when Perkins is not on the floor..a PF that play center @times,that reminds me of Alonzo Mourning in his prime w/d Miami Heat who @ 6″10 played center. IBAKA for DPOY.

I don’t really know, I don’t worry about stats when it comes to a great defender, sure it’s nice to have blocks and steals and things of that nature but I feel it’s more of a presence thing with Roy and Ibaka, people are “afraid” to go into the paint, for all the shots they don’t block, they put a body there and make it difficult, there are tons of DPOY candidates, LeBron, PG, Andre Iguodala, Roy, Ibaka, KD, etc.

I have no clue why Ibaka is in the discussion he is not the most impressive defender when you look at the PF spot . I mean Faried and Anthony Davis are more impressive of a defender to watch. Deavis also has Ibaka in the stats. Even Lee is more impressive to watch than Ibaka.

If you want to talk about an anchor I think Howard has Hibbert in the anchor category. Hibbert is just part of a great defense he has the help from West and George on the inside while who does Howard have? No one, he controls the paint by himself like no one else can.

If you are basing it as the best defensive player on the best defense team i would still put George over Hibbert if you think pacers are best defense. But i still think the grizz pose the toughest defense in the league meaning the recently returned Marc Gasol should have a bid.

But lets forget all that and just watch basketball and base it off the most impressive defender to watch. Even though I would love to argue the case for George because he is a 24/7 defender. I will have to go with Lebron. My stats winner if you just look at numbers Anthony Davis by a land slide.

John Schumann makes a great point. I know Lebron is certainly better than most players in the NBA in terms of defense but he ain’t making my Top 3 choices for DPOY. I think people are overrating Lebron too much when it comes to defense. At the very best, Lebron can guard 1-3 and most 4s(He’d be in trouble with guys like Aldridge, Love, Griffin) and there aren’t a lot of good guys in the 5 position but I think he’d be in trouble too with guys like Hibbert, Cousins, and even Dwight Howard. These guys are just too big and strong for him and they also have that quickness in a big man(except for Hibbert prolly).

if your going to base defense only on blocking or changing a shot then ok, give it to Hibbert. but personally for the pacers Gorge is by far a better defender than Hibbert is, he can guard more positions. LBJ is one of the few player that can play both ends of the floor and by far an better defender that Hibbert is, Hibbert only defends the rim while Gorge and LBJ guards
any position you put them at. What give LBJ the edge is that he is stronger than Gorge so he can guard the 5 spot a bit better. if you take Hibbert on put him on a team that has just an average defense, an put that team up against a team like Golden state that kills you from beyond the arch Hibbert would only be good for getting rebounds but his defense would be useless he is only good against teams that has to attack the rim a lot, while Gorge or LBJ can step out side an defend shooters.

Lebron James is my pick because he is not a liability on defence to his team whereas Hibbert is. Hibbert is not very effective against a small lineup whereas James excel in all situation. Hibbert is best at taking cheap shop!

Preach!
Don’t overlook John’s arguments!
I hope they don’t mess up this award two years in a row.
Marc Gasol was NOT worthy. His team (especially Tony Allen) played great defensively, but he was NOT a focal point on defense. Worst DPOY pick ever.

John Shcuhmann makes a good point. When LeBron is on the floor, the Heat do slack off on defense and when hes off they get better. I wouldnt go as far as to not say they are not a top 10 defensive team.

Hibbert will never be defense of the year only because is big. For instance Irving, a small guy, broke Howard ribs again and again in all star match just like he would do to Hibbert. Hibbert cannot even stop Lebron in a 1-1 for god sake. And Lebron stopped Durant, the best scorer today, against Miami, only scored from free-throw line. I would go with lebron or ibaka no doubt.

Hibbert can never be defense of the year only because is big. For instance Irving, a small guy, broke Howard ribs again and again in all star match just like he would do to Hibbert. Hibbert cannot even stop Lebron in a 1-1 for god sake. And Lebron stopped Durant, the best scorer today, against Miami, only scored from free-throw line. I would go with lebron or ibaka no doubt.

Joakim Noah should win the award. The Bulls have lost arguably their two best players and yet Noah has single-handedly kept the Bulls in the top 4 in the East with his Defense. Out of the top five best defense ranked teams, Joakim Noah has done way more with less and is the anchor that keeps that team running. They have the 2nd best defense. Lebron James isnt even in the discussion this year, he has just been coasting and the Heat have regressed defensively. IT should be between Noah and Hibbert and maybe Ibaka.

First off those that say lebron is the defensive player of the year clearly don’t watch basketball. Lebron hasn’t played great defense this year, Durant makes a better case this year then lebron. Roy hibbert deserves the award with ibaka second.

Why isn’t Serge Ibaka even recognized in this category? He’s second in blocks per game and is having his best offensive season why’ll still retaining his defensive presence. He isn’t just going up for crazy swings for blocks as he has done in previous seasons. He’s been very consistent with perimeter and low-post D He’s invaluable to the Thunder’s defense and is the main reason why they have the 4th ranked defensive rating in the league.

Hibbert is not a better defender than Lebron because he is useless against the likes of Durant.
Actually for perimeter defense, Hibbert would make for a HORRIBLE defender.
He doesn’t adjust. He isn’t fast enough to double team anyone and then get to where he needs to be when the ball moves.

The reason pacers Defense is the best is NOT due to Hibbert. It’s due to the Lance Stephenson and Paul George combo WITH Roy Hibbert. Watch more Pacers basketball you will see Vogel drew up a defensive masterpiece. You have 4 active wing players always closing on whoever has the ball and one really big center clogging up the middle. With this defensive setup it takes soooo long for opponents to find a good shot. But it’s a TEAM effort. And I don’t think Roy Hibbert is the anchor, unless you mean that his job is simply to stand there and not move in which case okay lets give defensive player of the year to him for being really tall and heavy and staying in his place with his hands up.

All you guys care about and look at to see if someone is a good defender is blocks. I got news for ya: blocks don’t tell the whole story. Marc Gasol was such a great defender last year, even though he didnt get many blocks, so he did deserve it. Also, I saw somewhere that while Ibaka gets the most blocks, he also attempts way too many blocks

Hibbert?! are you kidding me… he is a sack o meat that cant rebound or jump over a sheet of paper… he just stands there and blocks a shot here and there cause of his size! Shaq would have killed him night after night – when we are talking real quality Centers!
Lebron is always overrated! he could guard a player of his caliber ever!
and you forget the real best defenders that live in the Windy City! Jo is by far a better defender than these 2 other guys! and if you disagree you dont no basketball!!